Pope Francis has skipped reading a planned speech at a conference, saying he still had breathing problems following a hernia operation this month.

“I am still under the effects of anaesthesia, my breathing is not good,” Francis told a meeting of the Catholic Oriental Church on Thursday, saying delegates would instead receive a text of the speech.

Asked by a wellwisher how he felt, the 86-year-old pope replied: “I’m still alive.”

The pope had surgery on June 7 to repair an abdominal hernia.

He spent nine days in hospital recovering and has had a busy schedule since returning to the Vatican last Friday, including meeting the presidents of Cuba and Brazil.

He had eight events on his schedule for Thursday.